"People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid."
- Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

Monday, September 19, 2005

Hate mail cometh.

Newmark's Door linked to this which I couldn't help but steal and spread to me own far less widespread readership. Living in Detroit I am quite sick of the GM conspiracy theories and couldn't help but think of them when reading this passage:

"Halfway through my own reply, however, I suddenly became bored. Why do I spend so much time arguing against such obvious rubbish, which should be both self-refuting and auto-satirizing the moment someone utters it? Why not just go and read a good book?

The problem is that nonsense can and does go by default. It wins the argument by sheer persistence, by inexhaustible re-iteration, by staying at the meeting when everyone else has gone home, by monomania, by boring people into submission and indifference. And the reward of monomania? Power."

Yep...that about says it.

In other news, via geekpress there is an interesting story that makes me question whether or not DUI defendents should be able to avoid conviction by asking for trade secrets? (Story here) I'm currently on the side of the Florida judges, but I doubt very much the standard will stand. It's amazing how quickly the civil libertarians run on the issue of drunk driving.